HMT Netsukis

Hand-painted wooden plaque salvaged from the Seaman's Mission in Scarborough, recording the participation in the Dunkirk evacuation of HMT (Her Majesty's Trawler) Netsukis. Requisitioned by the Royal Navy in November 1939, she was one of 19 Flare Barrage Drifters of the Dover Auxiliary Patrol.She was first ordered to Dunkirk on the 26th May, 1940 and was recorded as evacuating 155 troops on the 28th May; 209 on the 30th and 119 on the 1st June. The discrepancy between the figures above and that of 1500 troops evacuated recorded on the plaque may well be accounted for by the combined total of troops ferried to larger vessels offshore and those actually landed at Dover. The vessel survived the war and was returned to her original owners in April 1946.